Peterborough applies for HMO conversions at 4.6 times the national rate.
Peterborough City Council received 1,561 planning applications in 2025. Of those with a decision, 90.6% were approved, above the national rate of 87.6%. The single most striking feature of the town's application mix is HMO conversions: at 5.7% of all applications, they run at 4.6 times the national share of 1.2%. The council also approves at a higher rate than the country as a whole, refusing only about 1 in 11 applications.
The year in one line
Peterborough approves planning applications at above the national rate, refuses only 1 in 11, and stands out most sharply for HMO conversions, which make up 5.7% of its applications against just 1.2% nationally.
What Peterborough Is Building
Extensions lead, HMO conversions set the town apart.
Home extensions were the most common project type submitted to Peterborough City Council in 2025, at 24.0% of all applications, below the national norm of 29.1%. The figure that most distinguishes Peterborough is HMO conversions: at 5.7% of applications, the town's share runs at 4.6 times the national figure of 1.2%, with 179 such applications across 2024-2025. Retrospective applications, work submitted for consent after it was already carried out, accounted for 5.3% of the mix, 1.4 times the national share of 3.7%.
Applications submitted to Peterborough City Council, 2024-2025 pooled, by project type.
The HMO effect
Peterborough's HMO conversion applications run at 4.6 times the national rate. At 179 applications across 2024-2025, this is the town's clearest divergence from the national planning picture.
The council verdict
A permissive council, above the national rate.
Of the 2,557 applications decided across 2024-2025, 90.6% were approved and 9.4% refused. That refusal rate of about 1 in 11 compares favourably with the national figure of 12.4%. The council is one of the more permissive in England, approving a higher share than the national benchmark.
About 1 in 11 Peterborough applications was turned down.
of decided applications approved across 2024-2025, against a national rate of 87.6%. About 1 in 11 applications was refused.
Peterborough vs The National Norm
HMO demand defines the town's planning picture.
Set Peterborough's application mix against the national average and the HMO conversion share is the standout: 5.7% of applications here against 1.2% nationally, 4.6 times the norm. Home extensions sit below the national share at 24.0% against 29.1%. The town also files fewer dormer applications than the country as a whole, at 1.9% against 6.0% nationally, more than three times lower, and fewer demolition applications at 5.8% against 9.1%.
Peterborough submits HMO conversion applications at 4.6 times the national rate. It is the town's clearest planning divergence from the national picture.
Each bar is Peterborough's share of applications; the marker is the national share. HMO conversions are the town's defining outlier.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices rose alongside the building activity.
The town's planning may be busy, but its housing market kept climbing through the year, with values pushing higher across the area.
Peterborough's planning data has a clear signature. The council approves a higher share of applications than the national average, turning down only about 1 in 11. But the really striking number is HMO conversions: the town files them at 4.6 times the national rate. For anyone buying here, particularly near the city centre, it is worth understanding the mix of uses around a property.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Peterborough City Council in 2025 (volume) and 2024-2025 pooled (shares and rates), classified from each application's published description. Shares are each category as a percentage of all applications.
Decision Rates
Approval rate is approvals as a share of approvals plus refusals, across applications with a decision. The national benchmarks are computed the same way across all decided applications in England and Wales.
Sales Data
HM Land Registry Price Paid Data for the Peterborough area, the latest full year's completions, with growth measured against the previous year.
The Real Applications
Open the planning applications behind the numbers.
These are real applications submitted in the Peterborough area, from retrospective filings where work was already done to HMO conversions and a set of refusals. Open any one to see its full record.
Hides Farm The Common, Crowland PE6 0HL
An existing outbuilding was converted into living accommodation and put to the council for consent after the work, a retrospective filing of the kind Peterborough makes more often than most.
See this property's full record22 West End Road, Maxey PE6 9EJ
A detached garage was turned into a games room with a rear pergola, applied for part-retrospectively, and the council granted it.
See this property's full record26 West Street, Kings Cliffe PE8 6XA
Retrospective replacement of three rotten timber windows alongside minor internal alterations was approved after the work was done.
See this property's full record122 Alexandra Road PE1 3DL
A single-storey side and rear extension with a front porch and bay window, the most common project type in the town, was granted.
See this property's full record298 Dogsthorpe Road PE1 3PL
A two-storey side and rear plus single-storey rear extension was turned down, one of the roughly 1 in 11 applications the council refused.
See this property's full record32 Martins Way, Orton Waterville PE2 5DY
Prior approval for a large single-storey rear extension was refused, a reminder that even routine extensions are not waved through.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Peterborough?
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